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16 out of 18 people found the following review useful: Delightful romantic comedy fantasy which shows all concerned at the top of their form. Hollywood moonshine, impeccably distilled..., 23 July 2005 Author: ironside (robertfrangie@hotmail.com) from Mexico
*** This review may contain spoilers ***
Veronica Lake's fooling, charming, biting witch (released from the trunk of a tree by a freak lightning storm, she returns to upset the household and descendants of the man who had her burnt a few hundred years earlier) was a role that suited her to perfection: she was a spry, punchy little cockerel from Broolklyn – breeding ground of other feisty spirits such as Clara Bow, Barbara Stanwyck, Mae West and Susan Hayward – whose beauty hid brains, and whose brains worked fast to seize a chance and make the most of it... She also had an explosive temper which she unleashed on those bigger than she, in size and power, resulting of course in the destruction of her career… But in her youth these qualities supplied her an electric current that switched a lot of people on… Veronica resented being known for her long blonde hair, but fame draws on strange things to single out one person for the attention of others: with Bette Davis it was acting; with Crawford it was staring; with Hayworth it was dancing and with Lake it was her silky hair… But regardless of the gimmick that drew us to her, it was the unrepeatable quality within which made a star like Veronica Lake imitated and loved – not for what she may have thought she could do, but for the fact that she was there to do it at all…
19 out of 27 people found the following review useful: Haunt Me, Please Haunt Me!!, 4 June 2004 Author: Peter Fairburn (psfrb@nb.sympatico.ca) from Shediac River, New Brunswick
I'm sure there are many women just as beautiful as Veronica Lake. I'm sure there were, and will be, directors as gifted as Rene Clair. And I'm sure there are Irish mischief makers as amusing as Cecil Kellaway. And politicians as stuffy and pompous as Frederic March. But the combination here in this wonderful fluff is without equal.Some Hollywood ace, befuddled and benumbed on a steady diet of coke and guacamole, has decided to remake this amazing film. Perhaps we will be shown a flash of real naked witch. But it will never be as sensual as the imagined view of Lake, as she appears in a smoke-filled hotel room. Perhaps in the re-make we will be shown the two characters locked together in a passionate embrace. But it will never equal what we imagine as we see the two ascend the stairs in this wonderful original.It's not that Hollywood is doomed to produce banality in this new century; it's just that they seem to like it. There are very few films as good as I Married A Witch and there are very few directors who can call on studios like Paramount to supply them with gifted artists and craft persons to equal this witty and wonderful confection. Why even Susan Hayward, who did well with her strident image of bitchiness, is just right here. I suspect that new generations of filmgoers will never see this lovely film, for it is now OOP - out of print. But the horror of it all is I suspect those who made the new film never bothered to screen the old one, being convinced that they had nothing to learn about the craft of cinema.That they were wrong becomes more obvious as the distance between the old and the new is measured in financial disaster. Perhaps next they might try to remake Sous Les Toits de Paris.
14 out of 20 people found the following review useful: Wow!, 30 May 2001 Author: JONATHAN PIPER (pipster101) from London
After reading many film books such as the Hurrell one and "The image makers" I had really started to wonder about Veronica Lake. Having never seen any of her films I really wanted to see her in something...and to be honest to see if she was as gorgeous as in her photo's. Not being available in the UK my flat-mate picked me up a copy of this on a shopping-trip to NY.Well-what can I say?! Veronica is more than I ever expected, BUT I really DO like the film too. I think it's funny, just the right length and the story has a certain charm and warmth to it that just leaves me smiling. Other viewers have complained about the darkness of it due to the film quality, but I find the beginning vaguely similar to Whale's Frankenstein. Okay, the start and indeed the whole film are slightly silly, but that's its naive charm. Lake has this naughty but loveable air about her that bounds around the screen - I love it and her! I'm really glad I own it, can't wait to both watch it again and see Veronica in something else...
15 out of 22 people found the following review useful: Nicely-done comedy with a good cast, 23 May 2000 Author: smokehill from Spotsylvania, Virginia
Very well-crafted comedy with some memorable work by Veronica Lake and a charming role for Cecil Kellaway (perfectly cast in this picture). Considering some of the fluffy, forgettable comedies of this era, this one deserves a much better following than it has enjoyed so far. Well worth watching.
14 out of 21 people found the following review useful: Whimsical comedy with wonderful Lake...wooden March..., 24 May 2001 Author: Neil Doyle from U.S.A.
Veronica Lake and Cecil Kellaway seem to get into the spirit of this whimsical comedy about witchcraft--while Fredric March (who reportedly disliked working with Lake whom he considered an inferior actress) does not come off well in comedy. Lake plays a witch whose ancestors burned her at the stake 300 years ago. March is engaged to Susan Hayward, but with the entry of Lake into his life, everything goes haywire. March is a gubernatorial candidate whose election to office is threatened by Lake's dexterity with broomstick magic. Based on an unfinished novel by Thorne Smith (creator of "Topper"), the film emerges as a screwball romantic comedy well directed by Rene Clair and benefits from some good trick photography. The video print I have is on the murky side--I'm sure the original print featured better overall photography than the video version. With a cast that includes Robert Benchley among the supporting players, this is a comedy treat ideal for viewing on Halloween.Warning: More enjoyable if the print quality is good!
7 out of 9 people found the following review useful: Superior light comedy, 15 October 2002 Author: funkyfry from Oakland CA
Pleasing comedy fantasy. There are some moments where watching Lake perform is really nice -- I love the bitchy look and how she puts her arms out when she slams the door with her magic in anger. Lake plays a witch who accidentally casts a love spell on herself, and therfore ends up domesticating herself and adopting moral attitudes her warlock father is opposed to. Fun and slightly meaningful in the Sturges mold.
7 out of 9 people found the following review useful: LAKE IS A WITCH MARCH IS A MAN HE IS DOOMED, 21 January 2000 Author: jbekins from United States
VERONICA LAKE IS TRULY ONE OF THE REAL BEAUTIES OF THE 1940's This is one of the great fun movies of all time. Think about it a witch changes the election just for fun. March is befuddle throughout. He is in love with Susan Hayward (another great beauty). She could be the best actress of her time. March turns in another great performance. See this movie and you will see the plot for "Bewitched" the long running TV show of the 1960's. Lake and March did it first and they did it right!! FUN FUN FUN
9 out of 13 people found the following review useful: Wonderful Magical, 17 June 2001 Author: William C. Uchtman (aesgaard41@hotmail.com) from Hendersonville, TN
I love this movie! It's mystically enchanting and irresistably charming. It's probably the greatest movie which Veronica Lake ever did, and probably one of the best classics to come out of the heyday of Hollywood.As captivating as Marilyn Monroe was to become,Lake is wonderfully demure and waif-like in her appearance, and Fredric March shows great range between befuddled and charmed by lake as she enraptures him. The movie's appeal lives on in the romances of Bewitched and Dark shadows !
10 out of 15 people found the following review useful: Lake Makes The Film Fun, 24 October 2006 Author: ccthemovieman-1 from Lockport, NY, United States
This is a fairly humorous story with decent special effects, especially considering it was made over 40 years ago. The key ingredient for success in this film was Veronica Lake. She's known more for her peekaboo blonde locks and for starring with Alan Ladd in several hit movies, but Lake was a good comedienne, too.Susan Hayward does well playing a snotty woman and Cecil Kellaway always plays an interesting character. Frederic March plays opposite Lake and I wish I hadn't read Lake's biography in which she explains how much she hated March. In made the love scenes lose a lot of impact when I learned how "forced" those scenes were.Oh, well. It's still a nice, lightweight comedy, nothing special but entertaining for the most part.....but it helps to be a fan of Veronica Lake, which I am.
2 out of 2 people found the following review useful: "For Tonight We'll Merry Merry Be", 3 August 2006 Author: bkoganbing from Buffalo, New York
I Married a Witch was a good fantasy/comedy that could have been a great one if it were not for the fact that the leading man and lady couldn't stand each other.Fredric March thought Veronica Lake was a no-talent studio creation and Lake thought March a would be rake who was put out because she wouldn't give him a tumble. Both to some extent were right.March's peccadilloes have been reported on by a number of people. Doesn't take away from the fact he was a great player. It is clear though he wasn't really interested in the project and it shows in his performance.In her memoirs Lake spoke very highly of Joel McCrea with whom she had worked well together in Sullivan's Travels and later in Ramrod. Also of Sonny Tufts who certainly had the New England Yankee background for this part. But March, she went on for several pages about how much she loathed him. Lake and her father Cecil Kellaway are a pair of New England witches condemned and burned around 1670 and whose spirits become part of a tree. When lightning strikes around 1940 those spirits are freed to resume practicing their trade, specifically on Fredric March's family who denounced them back in the day.As it turns out March is running for governor and when Lake gets a body she steals him away from his fiancé Susan Hayward. Through some manipulating of the votes when March looks like a sure loser, he wins by a miracle.A joke that might be lost on today's viewers is the way Veronica Lake spins her magic on the state as the voters keep shouting 'we want Wooley' which is March's name, Wallace Wooley. Two years earlier, the American public heard through several ballots at the Republican convention in Philadelphia, Wendell Wilkie nominated for president with an incessant cry coming over the radio, 'We Want Wilkie'. Another example of mass psychology that's never really been duplicated.Cecil Kellaway easily steal the film from the disinterested leads. He's at his best in the local jail, suffering from a hangover trying to remember any kind of spells that can help him. Rene Clair does the best he can with his feuding leads and maybe this would have been a classic if the two leads had at least liked each other.It just occurred to me. Did George Bush become president in 2000 through witchcraft? Veronica Lake shows us its possible.
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